JPH1152082A - Electronic timepiece - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic timepiece capable of easily confirming information concerning the second power source such as remaining capacity of the second battery for a user. SOLUTION: A charge/discharge controller 6 controlling the charge/discharge of second battery 2 accumulating the charge supplied from a solar battery 1 provided as a dial of wrist watch and outputting (discharging) the accumulated charge, detects the input current value and the output current value of the second battery 2 at the time of detection command from the system controller 5 and supplies the detection results to the system controller 5. The system controller 5 always indicates the detection results using the liquid crystal panel 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-powered electronic timepiece in which all or part of its operating power is covered by self-power generation, and to an electronic timepiece that notifies information about a secondary power source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, self-powered wristwatches have been developed.
It is commercially available. Since it is necessary to operate the clock circuit even during periods when self-power is not generated in this type of wristwatch, a secondary battery that inputs and accumulates generated power and outputs the accumulated current to the power supply of the clock circuit is provided. Have been. Of course, even if a secondary battery is provided, if the amount of charge remaining in the secondary battery (hereinafter referred to as “remaining capacity”) decreases and the output of the power supply system including the secondary battery decreases too much, the clock circuit However, if such a situation occurs, a large deviation occurs in the clock time, and the user must set the clock time by performing a predetermined operation. In general, the operation of setting the time on a wristwatch is an operation that places a considerable burden on the user due to restrictions on the size of the operation element and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid a situation where the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is excessively reduced. is there. In the first place, a time shift outside the error range of the clock circuit in the timepiece is to be avoided at all costs. From this point, it is necessary to avoid a situation in which the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is excessively reduced.

Due to such a need, wrist watches having a function of notifying a user of the remaining capacity of a secondary battery have been developed and marketed. For example, there is a wristwatch that notifies the remaining capacity by moving a second hand to a position corresponding to the remaining capacity of the secondary battery when a user performs a predetermined operation. In such a wristwatch, the user checks the remaining capacity of the secondary battery at a desired timing, changes the use mode of the wristwatch according to the checked remaining capacity, and prevents the remaining capacity of the secondary battery from excessively decreasing. Can be For example, when the remaining capacity is small, the power generation is promoted, and when the remaining capacity is large, the power generation is not considered. In addition,
The act of "promoting power generation" corresponds to, for example, an act of positioning a wristwatch such that strong light is applied to the solar battery when the power generating means is a solar battery.

[0004]

Since a wristwatch is required to continue the timekeeping operation in any case, a period during which the rechargeable battery is not charged or a small charging current is required. Even during the period, the discharge from the secondary battery continues to be performed. Therefore, in the conventional self-powered wristwatch, even if it is possible to confirm at some point that the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is sufficient, the remaining capacity does not always remain sufficient in the future. May be lost. " As a result, a user who wants to avoid abnormal operation or stoppage of the clock circuit without fail must frequently repeat the operation for confirming the remaining capacity of the secondary battery.
In other words, the user has to spend a great deal of effort in order to dispel anxiety.

[0005] In addition to the above feeling of anxiety, since the remaining capacity of the secondary battery cannot be confirmed unless a predetermined operation is performed, useless charging work is continued even when the secondary battery is fully charged. It is expected to end up. As an example, consider a case in which a wristwatch employing a solar battery as a power generation means is left in a bright place for charging. In such a case, it is considered that a small number of users frequently perform a predetermined operation to check the charging status, and the majority of users check the charging status for the first time after a time considered to be sufficient. . At this time, the time required for full charge depends on the remaining capacity of the secondary battery and the intensity of light incident on the solar battery, but it is impossible for the user to accurately estimate the time. . Thus, the user will only check the charging status after a much longer time than required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an electronic timepiece that allows a user to easily confirm information about a secondary power supply such as a remaining capacity of a secondary battery. And

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic timepiece which receives a power generation means and a current generated by the power generation means, accumulates electric charges, and outputs the accumulated electric charges. An electronic timepiece having a secondary power supply including a power storage means and operating using an output current of the power storage means, a detection means for detecting information on the secondary power supply;
It is characterized by comprising notification means for notifying information, and notification control means for constantly notifying the information detected by the detection means using the notification means.

[0008] The information on the secondary power supply may be a charge amount stored in the power storage means (claim 2), or a power generation current value of the power generation means or an input current value of the power storage means. (Claim 3). further,
The notification means includes a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel, the power generation means is a solar battery that receives light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel and generates power, and the notification control means is detected by the detection means. Such information may be constantly notified using the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel (claim 4).

[0009] The notifying means further comprises a pointer,
The notification control unit may further notify the information detected by the detection unit using the pointer (claim 5). In particular, in the electronic timepiece according to claim 2, the notifying means includes a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel and a display pointer indicating time, and the power generating means receives light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel to generate power. The notification control means, when the charge amount is equal to or more than a threshold, constantly notifies the information detected by the detection means using the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel, and the charge amount is the threshold value. If the number is less than the above, the information detected by the detecting means may be always notified using the display pointer (claim 6).

The electronic timepiece according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the notifying means includes a movable part, and the notifying means changes the state of the movable part when the content of the information to be notified changes. If the content of the information to be notified does not change, the state of the movable portion may be maintained (claim 7).

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A: First Embodiment First, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a combination wristwatch will be described. A-1: Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of the combination wristwatch according to the first embodiment, and 1 is a solar battery in which a plurality of cells that generate a current having a value corresponding to the illuminance of incident light are connected in series. Reference numeral 2 denotes a secondary battery (for example, a lithium ion secondary battery) having one end connected to one end of the solar battery 1, and accumulates a generated current of the solar battery 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a limiter connected in parallel with the solar battery 1 to prevent overcharge of the secondary battery 2, and 4 denotes a capacitor having one end connected to one end of the secondary battery 2. Accumulates discharge current.

5 is a system control unit connected in parallel with the capacitor 4, and 6 is the other end of the capacitor 4 (voltage value VS
S) One end of secondary battery 2 (voltage value VDD), secondary battery 2
And a charge / discharge control unit connected to the other end of the solar battery 1, and controls the charge / discharge of the secondary battery 2 so that the potential difference between VDD and VSS becomes the rated voltage of the system control unit 5. At the same time, the input current (charge current) to the secondary battery 2, the output current (discharge current) from the secondary battery 2, and the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 are detected in response to a detection instruction given from the system control unit 5. , And supplies each detected value to the system control unit 5. That is, the charge / discharge control unit 6 has functions of an input current detection unit and an output current detection unit. In practice, a diode for preventing backflow is inserted between the charge / discharge control unit 6 and the other end of the solar battery 1.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a motor drive circuit for driving a motor for moving a hand in accordance with a drive voltage applied from the system control unit 5, and 9 denotes a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel comprising a plurality of segments. The unit 5 drives the liquid crystal panel 9 by controlling a voltage applied to an individual signal line (SEG) connected to each segment. Note that a common signal line (COM) is provided between the system control unit 5 and the liquid crystal panel 9, and the voltage applied to each segment is equal to the potential difference between the corresponding individual signal line and the common signal line. Become.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the system control unit 5. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the system control unit 5 includes an oscillation circuit 11 for generating a reference pulse for timing, a control program, and the like. (Read Only Memory) 12, a core CPU (CORE CPU: Central Processing Unit) 13, which performs a timing operation using a reference pulse and executes the control program in synchronization with the reference pulse. CPU 13 (hereinafter simply referred to as “CPU
13), a display control circuit 15 and a motor control circuit 16 that operate according to instructions from the CPU 13, and a liquid crystal panel driven by the display control circuit 15 to drive the liquid crystal panel 9. The driver 17 (hereinafter referred to as “LCD driver 17”) and the contents of the operation of various switches by the user
It comprises an input / output control circuit 18 for supplying to the PU 13. The motor control circuit 16 includes the system control unit 5
It is connected to an external motor drive circuit 8 and controls the motor drive circuit 8 to drive a drive mechanism including a display hand consisting of an hour hand, a minute hand and a second hand (in this specification and the drawings, "display hand" ) May represent the “drive mechanism”). Although power supply lines are connected to the above-described units 11 to 18, their illustration and description are omitted for the sake of simplicity. Also, the illustration and description of the booster circuit for adjusting the voltage of the current supplied to each section are omitted, similarly to the power supply line.

In the configuration described above, the generated current of the solar battery 1 is stored in the secondary battery 2 during charging, and the current stored in the secondary battery is released to the system control unit 5 during discharging. The system control unit 5 operates by using the output current (discharge current) from the secondary battery 2 side, constantly performs the timekeeping operation and the step operation of the display pointer, and controls the charge / discharge control unit 6. A detection instruction is given at predetermined time intervals (for example, 2 seconds). Upon receiving the instruction, the charge / discharge control unit 6
Is the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 and the input current value (solar battery 1
And the output current value are supplied to the system control unit 5.

The system control unit 5 temporarily stores the remaining capacity, the input current value, and the output current value in the RAM 14 and controls the liquid crystal panel 9 to notify the remaining capacity and the input current value. At the same time, the system control unit 5
The difference (balance) between the input current value and the output current value is obtained, and the liquid crystal panel 9 is controlled to notify the difference. When a predetermined signal is input from the input / output control circuit 18, the system control unit 5 reads the latest remaining capacity and output current value from the RAM 14, and notifies the liquid crystal panel 9 and the display pointer (motor drive) to notify them. The circuit 8) is controlled.

A-2: Operation Next, the operation of the above-mentioned combination wristwatch, which is directly related to the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a view showing the appearance of the wristwatch body in a normal state, and FIG. 4 is a view showing the appearance of the wristwatch body when a predetermined operation is performed. A member 31 is attached to each position obtained by dividing the circumference of the disk-shaped dial (solar battery 1) into 12 equal parts. In addition, display hands (hour hand 22, minute hand 23, second hand 24) and a plate-shaped liquid crystal panel 9 are provided on the front side of the dial, and a transparent cover glass is fitted on the most front side. The liquid crystal panel 9
Has a terminal portion to which the above-mentioned individual signal line and common signal line are connected at its peripheral portion. However, this peripheral portion is covered by the housing for aesthetic reasons and cannot be visually recognized by the user.

As described above, since the dark blue solar battery 1 having a ground color close to black is used as the display pointer and the dial as the background of the liquid crystal display, the display pointer and the member 3 are used.
The color of the visible surface 1 is a color that is more easily visually recognized in comparison with the background color (dark blue close to black) and white. The reason why the colors of the display pointer and the member 31 are determined in consideration of not only the background color but also the background color and the white color is that the liquid crystal panel 9 is white in the on state and substantially transparent in the off state (light transmittance is 90%). %) Is employed because a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel having segments of about (%) is employed. The adoption of the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel improves the readability of the liquid crystal display by providing a white display with the color of the solar battery 1 (dark blue close to black) as a background color, and the liquid crystal display with a wide viewing angle. Of the display pointer, and the power generation efficiency of the solar battery 1 can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 3, at normal times, the display hands indicate the current time, and the liquid crystal panel 9 displays the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2, the input current value, and the latest value of the balance. In FIG. 3, the pattern display on the outer periphery of the member 31 and the character display of “25%” both indicate the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2. In the former pattern display, the head position of the segment in the ON state is a dial. The remaining capacity is indicated by the position of the upper position. In the present embodiment, the 12 o'clock position is set to 0
%, The 6 o'clock position is 50%, and in the example of FIG.
The three segments up to the 3 o'clock position corresponding to% are on.

In the figure, the characters "15" indicate the input current value, and the pattern on the inner periphery of the member 31 indicates the secondary battery 2
Shows the balance of The pattern display indicates the balance by the position on the dial where the head position of the segment in the ON state is. In this embodiment, the 12 o'clock position is ± 0, the clockwise direction is plus (input current value> output current value), and the counterclockwise direction is minus (input current value <output current value). In, the balance is “−2”, and the two segments up to the 10 o'clock position are on. The liquid crystal display fluctuates according to the use conditions of the wristwatch.

On the other hand, when the user performs a predetermined button operation, the system controller 5 reads the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 from the RAM 14 and updates the liquid crystal display (pattern display and character display) according to the remaining capacity. And the second hand 24
Is driven clockwise in the clockwise direction according to the remaining capacity. For example, when the user performs a predetermined button operation in the state shown in FIG. 3, the second hand 24 quickly moves to the 3 o'clock position as shown in FIG. As a result, the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 is notified by the liquid crystal display and the position display of the second hand 24.

At this time, since the rotating direction of the second hand 24 is clockwise, the time indicated by the display pointer is a time that is earlier than the actual time measured by the system control unit 5.
Accordingly, the system control unit 5 thereafter stops the advance of the display hands accompanying the timekeeping operation (the supply of the drive signal to the motor drive circuit 8 may be stopped, or the display hands may be mechanically locked. The start of the display hands is started when the actual time coincides with the time indicated by the display hands.

A-3: Supplement Although the information indicated by the second hand 24 when the user operates a predetermined button is the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2, information other than the remaining capacity (for example, the input current of the secondary battery 2). (A value, a balance, etc.) may be represented by the second hand 24. The second hand 24
May not be used to display information other than the time information (for example, the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2, the input current value, the balance, etc.), and the information may be displayed only on the liquid crystal panel 9.

The system controller 5 electronically calculates the difference between the input current value and the output current value to calculate the balance. However, the difference current between the input current and the output current is calculated electrically. The value of the difference current may be used as the balance. Further, the balance is notified to the degree of plus or minus, but only plus or minus may be notified. Further, instead of the input current of the secondary battery 2, the generated current of the solar battery 1 may be detected. Further, a primary battery may be provided, and the primary battery may be appropriately switched to the secondary battery 2 to stabilize the supply voltage to the system control unit 5.

A-4: Modification Next, a modification of the combination wristwatch according to the first embodiment will be described. However, description overlapping with the above description will be omitted. This modification differs from the above-described wristwatch in the functions and operations of the system control unit and the charge / discharge control unit. The charge / discharge control unit in the present modification does not have a function of detecting the input current and the output current of the secondary battery, detects the remaining capacity of the secondary battery in response to a detection instruction given from the system control unit, and determines the detection result. Return to system control unit.

On the other hand, the system control unit gives a detection instruction to the charge / discharge control unit at predetermined time intervals, and controls the liquid crystal panel 9 so as to sequentially notify the return value (remaining capacity) from the charge / discharge control unit. The remaining capacity is sequentially stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 14, and the latest remaining capacity stored in the RAM 14 and 1
Based on the previous remaining capacity, the amount of fluctuation (fluctuation tendency) of the remaining capacity per predetermined time is obtained, and the liquid crystal panel 9 is controlled so as to notify the change sequentially. Of course, the remaining capacity to be compared with the latest remaining capacity is not limited to the previous remaining capacity.

In this modification, the display on the liquid crystal panel 9 is the same as that shown in FIG. 3, except that the numeral "15" representing the input current value is not displayed. The segment provided on the inner periphery of the member 31 is used to display the above-mentioned variation. As described above, the fluctuation amount represents a fluctuation in the remaining capacity per a predetermined time, and when the “predetermined time” is sufficiently short, the same parameter as the above “balance” can be obtained.

B: Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a combination wristwatch will be described. B-1: Configuration FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of the combination wristwatch according to the second embodiment. In this drawing, the difference from FIG.
1 and the point that a motor drive circuit 22 controlled by the system control unit 21 is provided. The motor drive circuit 22 is for driving the second hand 24. The second hand 24 is driven by one of a drive system including the motor drive circuit 8 and a drive system including the motor drive circuit 22. The drive system for actually driving the second hand 24 is appropriately selected by the system control unit 21 as described later in detail.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the system control unit 21. In FIG. 6, a portion different from FIG. 2 is a motor control circuit 2 for controlling a motor drive circuit 22.
3 is connected to the CPU 13. Also, CP
The processing performed by U13, that is, the program stored in ROM 12 is also different from that shown in FIG. The only difference between the system control unit 21 and the system control unit 5 is the process of notifying the information regarding the secondary battery 2. Other processes are the same as those of the system control unit 5, and a description thereof will be omitted.

B-2: Operation FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the notification process by the system control unit 21. As shown in this figure, the system control unit 21 issues a predetermined time ( A detection instruction is given at intervals of, for example, 2 seconds, and the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2, the input current value (or the power generation current value of the solar battery 1), and the output current value are acquired from the charge / discharge control unit 6 (step). SA1). Upon acquiring these pieces of information, the system control unit 21 temporarily stores the acquired information and information (such as a balance) obtained from the information in the RAM 14 and determines whether the remaining capacity included in the information is less than a predetermined threshold. It is determined whether or not it is (step SA2).

If the remaining capacity is equal to or larger than the threshold, the system control section 21 drives the liquid crystal panel 9 to notify various information stored in the RAM 14 (step SA3, see FIG. 3). At this time, the hand movement of the display pointer is performed as usual. That is, the display hands including the second hand 24 are driven by the drive system including the motor drive circuit 8. Then, the process returns to the process of step SA1.

Conversely, when the remaining capacity is less than the threshold, the system control unit 21 sets the hour hand 22, the minute hand 23 and the second hand 24.
, The hour hand 22 and the minute hand 23 are stepped by the drive system including the motor drive circuit 8, and the second hand 24 is driven by the drive system including the motor drive circuit 22. Specifically, the system control unit 21 obtains the current position of the second hand 24 based on the current time at the time of switching of the drive system, obtains the hand position corresponding to the current remaining capacity, and calculates the hand position from the current position to the hand position. An instruction is given to the motor control unit 23 to drive the second hand 24 to fast-forward (step SA).
4). As a result, the second hand 24 is fast-forward-driven, and stops at, for example, a position as shown in FIG. As is clear from this figure, when the remaining capacity is displayed using the second hand 24, the liquid crystal display is not performed, and the power consumption of the notification processing is suppressed low. Then, the process returns to step SA1,
Thereafter, while the remaining capacity is less than the threshold, the hand position of the second hand 24 is a position corresponding to the remaining capacity, and when the remaining capacity is equal to or greater than the threshold, the drive system switching operation reverse to the above is performed. . Of course, the second hand 24 may be stopped until the current time catches up with the hand position.

That is, in the present embodiment, the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 is monitored at predetermined time intervals, and when the remaining capacity is less than the threshold, a notification is made using only the display pointer (second hand 24). Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the liquid crystal panel 9 having high power consumption is driven when the remaining capacity is small to accelerate the rate of decrease in the remaining capacity.

B-3: Supplement When employing a multi-axis motor or the like and applying each of the display hands to a wristwatch that can be driven independently, there is no need to mechanically switch the drive system. Become. In such a case, it is also possible to assign information on the secondary battery 2 to the hands other than the second hand, and to notify a plurality of information only by the display hands. However, in this case, the hour hand and minute hand also deviate from the position indicating the current time.
It is necessary to return these (and the second hand) to a position corresponding to the current time.

Further, similarly to the first embodiment, the information on the secondary battery 2 indicated by the second hand 24 may be information other than the remaining capacity, or the difference current between the input current and the output current is obtained electrically, and the difference is calculated. The value of the current may be notified as a balance, the balance may be notified only of plus or minus, and the generated current of the solar battery 1 is detected instead of the input current of the secondary battery 2. Or a primary battery may be used in combination. Further, as shown in the modified example of the first embodiment, the fluctuation amount (fluctuation tendency) of the remaining capacity per predetermined time is obtained without detecting the input current and the output current of the secondary battery 2, and this is notified. You may make it.

C: Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an analog wristwatch will be described. C-1: Configuration FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of the analog wristwatch according to the third embodiment. In this drawing, a point different from FIG. 5 is that a system control unit 32 is provided instead of the system control unit 21. And the liquid crystal panel 9 is deleted. In addition,
In the present embodiment, as in the second embodiment, two drive systems are provided.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the system control unit 32. In this figure, the main differences from FIG. 6 are the display control circuit 15 and the LCD.
The point that the driver 17 is deleted and the motor drive circuit 22
The point is that a dedicated needle used only for notification of information on the secondary battery 2 is driven.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the wristwatch main body according to the present embodiment. Parts common to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 11, a fan-shaped region 34 that draws an arc from the 10 o'clock position to the 11 o'clock position on the disk-shaped dial (solar battery 1) supported by the housing has a rotation axis at the center of the fan. Dedicated needles are provided. Further, a symbol “F” indicating a fully charged state is drawn on the 11 o'clock position side of the fan-shaped region 34, and a symbol “E” indicating an empty state is drawn on the 10 o'clock position side. The visible surfaces of the member 31 and the special needle, and the colors of the symbols “F” and “E” are colors that are easily visible in comparison with the background color (dark blue close to black).

C-2: Operation Next, the notification operation of the wristwatch will be described. The system control unit 32 gives a detection instruction to the charge / discharge control unit 6 at predetermined time intervals (for example, two seconds), obtains the remaining capacity of the secondary battery 2 from the charge / discharge control unit 6, and obtains the obtained remaining capacity. The RAM
14 and temporarily controls the motor drive circuit 22 so that the position (direction) of the dedicated needle is in the position (direction) on the area 34 according to the remaining capacity. System control unit 3
2 does not perform a notification operation other than the operation described above.

The motor drive circuit 22 drives a stepping motor (not shown). The electric power required to drive the dedicated needle by the stepping motor drives the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel to display various information. It is much smaller than the case. Therefore, it can greatly contribute to lower power consumption of the wristwatch. Further, since the system control unit 32 and the motor drive circuit 22 drive the stepping motor only when the remaining capacity fluctuates, when the remaining capacity does not fluctuate, the driving system of the dedicated needle does not consume power.

In addition, the upper side 11 in normal use.
By setting the hour position side to a fully charged state and the lower side at 10 o'clock position to an empty state, when the remaining capacity tends to decrease, the dedicated hand can be driven without opposing gravity.
That is, the power required for the notification operation can be reduced in a situation where low power consumption is desired. Further, since the display pointer does not need to be shared, the time indicated by the display pointer can always be set as the current time.

C-3: Supplement It should be noted that a plurality of special hands are provided, and different information is provided for each of the special hands (for example, the input current value and output current value of the secondary battery 2,
Budget). Of course, the rotation axes of the dedicated hands may or may not match, but if they do match, the colors of the dedicated hands should not be similar. As for the balance, only the plus or minus may be notified, or only the input current value (generation current value) and the output current value may be notified, and the user may obtain the balance based on the contents of the notification. You may.

Also, an example of an analog wristwatch has been described.
A dedicated wristwatch may be provided with a dedicated hand, and information about the secondary battery may be notified using the liquid crystal panel and the dedicated hand. Further, a primary battery may be used together, or as shown in the above-described modified example, a secondary battery may be used.
Instead of detecting the input current and the output current of the secondary battery 2, the amount of change in the remaining capacity per predetermined time (change tendency) may be obtained and reported.

The area 3 is directly formed on the solar battery 1.
Instead of forming the region 4, the region 34 may be formed by cutting out the solar battery 1 in a fan shape, or the region 34 may be formed by covering the solar battery 1 with a fan-shaped translucent filter. . In this case, the area 34 may be color-coded so that the user can quickly understand the meaning (position) of the special needle. Further, information on the secondary battery may be notified according to the position or direction of the movable piece, not limited to the needle. For example, the movable piece may be linearly slid on the dial, and the position of the movable piece may indicate information about the secondary battery. At this time, it is preferable to set the fully charged state to the upper side and the empty state to the lower side.

Further, information on the secondary battery may be notified according to a state other than the position and the direction of the movable piece. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, if the dial is cut out into a predetermined shape to form a window 41, and a disk-shaped movable piece 42 having a track on the back side of the dial is moved across the window 41, The area of the movable piece 42 visually recognized through the window 41 changes. If this change corresponds to, for example, the remaining capacity of the secondary battery, the user can be notified of the remaining capacity. The movable piece 42 is formed on a gear (not shown), and the drive system of the gear is provided independently of the drive system of the display pointer.

In the example shown in FIG. 12, if the shape of the movable piece is appropriately set in accordance with the charge / discharge characteristics of the secondary battery, even if the charge / discharge characteristics are not linear, the generated current and the consumed current can be improved. In an environment where does not change, the driving speed of the movable piece (power consumption of the drive system of the movable piece) can be made substantially constant. That is, it can be expected that the power consumption of the driving system of the movable piece becomes uniform on the time axis.

D: Conclusion In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which the present invention is applied to a wristwatch is shown, but it is needless to say that the present invention is also applicable to a stationary type timepiece.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The notification control means always notifies the information on the secondary power detected by the detection means using the notification means, so that the user does not need to perform any special operation and the amount of charge stored in the power storage means and the input current value (power generation) Information on the secondary power supply such as the generated current value of the means can be easily confirmed. Therefore, the user is expected to check the information regarding the secondary power supply more frequently, and the effect of relieving the user of anxiety can be expected (claims 1, 2, 3).

Further, the information is announced by the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel, and the solar battery, which receives the light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel and generates power, is used as the power generation means. The power generation efficiency can be improved (claim 4). In addition, since the information is notified using the guideline, the readability of the display information can be further improved (claim 5).

By the way, the output voltage of a general power storage means drops sharply from the time when the amount of stored electric charge becomes small, and even after the output voltage starts to drop remarkably, the output voltage of high power consumption becomes high. If you continue to drive the molecular dispersion type liquid crystal panel,
The timing operation stops in a very short time. In view of this, in the present invention, when notifying the accumulated charge amount of the electric storage means, if the accumulated charge amount is equal to or more than the threshold value, an announcement is made using the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel, and if the accumulated charge amount is less than the threshold value, the display is performed. Since the notification is performed using the pointer, the amount of stored charge is reduced, and in the situation where reduction of power consumption is required, the notification operation of low power consumption using the display pointer is performed, and the output voltage is significantly reduced. It is possible to extend the time from when the operation starts to when the timing operation stops.

In addition, by using a movable part whose state changes according to the content of the information to be notified (for example, current value) as the notification means, compared with the case where a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel is used, Low power consumption can be achieved (claim 7).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of a combination wristwatch according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a system control unit 5 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an external appearance of the wristwatch main body at a normal time.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an appearance of the wristwatch main body when a predetermined operation is performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of a combination wristwatch according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a system control unit 21 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of a notification process by a system control unit 21 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an appearance of the wristwatch main body when a predetermined operation is performed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of an analog wristwatch according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a system control unit 32 of the wristwatch.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an appearance of the wristwatch main body.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an aspect in which information is notified based on a visible area of a disk-shaped movable piece.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Solar battery, 2 ... Secondary battery, 5, 21, 32 ... System control part, 9 ... Liquid crystal panel, 22 ... Hour hand, 23 ... Minute hand, 24 ... Second hand, 34 ... Area, 41 ... Window, 42 ... Movable piece

Claims (7)

[Claims] A secondary power supply including a power generation means and a power storage means for receiving a current generated by the power generation means, accumulating electric charge and outputting the accumulated electric charge, and using an output current of the electric power storage means. In the electronic timepiece that operates, a detection unit that detects information about the secondary power supply, a notification unit that notifies information, and a notification control unit that constantly notifies the information detected by the detection unit using the notification unit. An electronic timepiece comprising: 2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein said detection means detects an amount of electric charge stored in said power storage means as information relating to said secondary power supply. 3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1, wherein said detecting means detects a generated current value of said power generating means or an input current value of said power storage means as information relating to said secondary power supply. 4. The notification means includes a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel, the power generation means is a solar battery that receives light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel and generates power, and the notification control means includes: The electronic timepiece according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information detected by the detection means is always notified using the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel. 5. The electronic timepiece according to claim 4, wherein the notifying unit further includes a pointer, and the notification control unit further notifies the information detected by the detecting unit using the pointer. 6. The notifying means includes a polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel and a display pointer indicating time, and the power generating means is a solar battery that receives light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal panel and generates power. The notification control means always notifies the information detected by the detection means using the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel when the charge amount is equal to or more than a threshold value, and when the charge amount is less than the threshold value. 3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2, wherein the information which is detected by the detecting means is always notified using the display pointer. 7. The notifying means includes a movable portion, and changes the state of the movable portion when the content of the information to be notified changes, and changes the state of the movable portion when the content of the information to be notified does not change. The electronic timepiece according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein